Mongol Paiza (Waist Tablet)

Timeline

1. 1230–1241Center of the Mongol Empire · Mongolian PlateauÖgedei Khan perfected the yam (relay station) system and began issuing paiza as official travel passes. Tablets were graded gold, silver, bronze, and wood, corresponding to the requisition rights and lodging standards of envoys of different ranks.
2. 1251–1260Karakorum · Övörkhangai ProvinceMöngke Khan reformed abuses in the relay stations and re-regulated paiza issuance. In 1253 the Franciscan William of Rubruck personally saw gold and silver paiza at Karakorum, recording that envoys bearing them could change horses six or seven times a day and demand grain along the way. Paiza became the administrative bond linking the empire's various khan routes.
3. 1250–1260Throughout the Mongol Empire · EurasiaPaiza were mostly rectangular or round; gold tablets were for the imperial family and highest envoys, silver for princes and senior ministers, bronze and wood for ordinary officials. Tablet faces were engraved with edicts such as 'By Heaven's mandate, the emperor decrees: whoever disobeys shall surely be executed,' and decorated with motifs of tigers, geese, sun and moon.